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Critical infrastructure
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Critical infrastructure is a term used by governments to describe material assets that are essential for the functioning of a society and economy. Most commonly associated with the term are facilities for:
- electricity generation and distribution;
- telecommunication;
- water supply;
- agriculture, food production and distribution;
- heating (natural gas, fuel oil);
- public health;
- transportation systems (fuel supply, railway network, airports);
- financial services;
- security services (police, military).
Critical-infrastructure protection is the study, design and implementation of precautionary measures aimed to reduce the risk that critical infrastructure fails as the result of war, disaster, civil unrest, vandalism, or sabotage.
The German critical-infrastructure protection programme is headed by the German Federal Office for Information Security.
In the USA's National Strategy for Homeland Security, which was issued in July 2002; critical infrastructure is defined as those "systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitation impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters."
The thirteen sectors of critical infrastructures and the agency liaisons identified by the National Strategy for Homeland Security are the following:
- Agriculture – Department of Agriculture
- Food – Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services
- Water – Environmental Protection Agency
- Public Health – Department of Health and Human Services
- Emergency Services – Department of Homeland Security
- Government – Department of Homeland Security
- Defense Industrial Base – Department of Defense
- Information and Telecommunications – Department of Homeland Security
- Energy – Department of Energy
- Transportation – Department of Homeland Security
- Banking and Finance – Department of the Treasury
- Chemical Industry and Hazardous Materials – Department of Homeland Security
- Postal and Shipping – Department of Homeland Security